What are your stims?

[Flinty]

I have a habit of rapidly moving my feet back and forth, especially at work. But it stopped for a while in junior high - we got a cat who thought I was playing. Now I'm often afraid to let my feet touch floor.

 

[alien girl]

i flap my fingers or flap a sock/handkerchief/pen. i pace. i bounce my foot and rock.

 

[Shahnanigans]

So many people have said hand rubbing/twisting/etc, glad I'm not the only one who does this! I sometimes do it so vigorously, my parents used to joke that I was trying to rub off my fingerprints. I incessantly twirl and fiddle with my hair at times, rub my palm or fingertips over things (fabrics, carpet, countertops, my thigh if I'm sitting), tap my nails on things. Not sure if these count as stimming or are just quirks, but if I am upset or talking (to myself or someone else) about something that makes me feel strongly I tend to use intermittant sign language, and if I'm sitting I have to have my legs up, either crossed under me or up knees-to-chest sort of thing.

 

[Cerulean]

Lately I've started a new flapping routine, I kind of flick my hands like I'm trying to get water off them or something. I do it kind of hard though and I'm a little afraid I'm going to pull or twist something!

 

[gailt915]

I've been doing leg bouncing and toe tapping a lot lately. Also, flicking my fingers or pointing my index finger into the air, either straight out in front of me or down slightly. I bounce on my toes or sway back and forth while waiting in line or just waiting in general.

 

[Meistersinger]

I bob my knees, flap my fingers (especially after cracking my knuckles), have problems with restless legs (especially after my dearly beloved basset hound died 10 years ago), start conducting when I hear music in my head, etc., tap my foot, especially to keep time to music I'm either performing or trying to rehearse, etc.

 

[dwc780]

For the most part I bounce my feet and chew the insides of my lips to hell. Finger tapping is less often but fairly frequent. If I'm really stressed or nervous I tend to twist my hair around my finger.

 

[Divrom]

For the most part I bounce my feet and chew the insides of my lips to hell. Finger tapping is less often but fairly frequent. If I'm really stressed or nervous I tend to twist my hair around my finger.

The chewing is annoying, isn't it?

The inside of my mouth can get really sore at times.

 

[Jontish]

Scratching my balls for long time, then later the skin becomes scaly and I pick it off.

TMI?

 

[Soup]

@ Jontish: Now that's a stim I'll never be able to test out!

I'm leaning on this counter top shifting my weight from one foot to the other while bending the opposite knee. If I was wearing headphones, it would look like I'm dancing.

 

[cb_aspie]

finger flicking and chewing

 

[Lako]

When i was in school i used to draw pattens all over my table, i covered a few in my time.
I like to beatbox and tap my fingers, that helps and when im alone i talk to myself but in wierd voices but they make me laugh so i like it.
I twirl my thumbs on my middle fingers and rub my thumb nails underneath all my other nails and then vise versa until it feels even and i do a lot of facial stimming, i chew my mouth and tap my teeth in a certain way until it feels even of course.

 

[76054Pluto]

I sometimes flap my lower arms with my hands outstretched although as an adult I never do it in front of other people like I did as a child. I usually do it when I feel good or am excited about something or anticipating something like one of my favourite foods. I have a close relative with mild Aspergers who curls his hair with his fingers and like me he has control over it and never does it in public.

 

[by_design]

I rock back and forth on my back. I have built a strong back . Kind of looks like I am swimming upside down, or in the middle of a break dance . I don't do it in front of anyone.

 

[SUM1]

Whenever I'm concentrating, or whenever I'm nervous, I'm constantly pinching and pulling my (now no-longer-existent) fringe, and it's happened so much that what used to go down to my nose at the lowest point now only goes about half way down my forehead when I'm pulling it at its hardest, and the rest of my hair's stayed the same. I'm SO SO ANNOYED about it, because I hate big foreheads, and I loved my fringe so much. I don't know how to stop. I pull it because it has this annoying curl at the bottom and my hair's always knotting at the tips and I'm always trying to make it even, and some bits are long and some bits are short, and there are hairs in wrong places. I don't like it when my hair isn't roughly equal. It really annoys me.

 

[Myself]

Chew the inside of my cheeks, suck on tongue. Unaware of anything else.

 

[Neat Hedgehog]

I bite the inside of my lips a lot. Like... a lot. I don't have a lot of feeling left in there because I have been doing it since before I remember. My mother used to think I was allergic to something, or it was because I didn't brush my teeth enough (which I didn't, but that was a different issue) and it wasn't until I was about 16 that I finally got her to understand that it wasn't a mystery, I just chewed on my lip.

My leg(s) also do an impression of a sewing machine when I am trying to pay attention to things.

Then there's one thing that I'm not sure if it's a "stim" or what. My head turns sideways in a kind of twisty, snake-like motion repeatedly, and I get a pain in the back of my head when I try to think really hard. Normal light levels hurt, sound is deafening and impossibly distracting, and I get a weird taste in the back of my mouth like... copper, or some kind of metal. At the same time, when this happens, I will generally be capable of solving problems that would ordinarily be very difficult or that I couldn't figure out before. I'll talk really fast and off-meter, too, so it's hard for people to understand what I am saying.

 

[Zac]

Reading all this made me realize many of the things I didn't know were stims actually are...

Do you differentiate happy stims vs. angry stims or stims for when you are concentrating really hard etc.?

- rocking, a lot, not always visible though.
- swaying slightly/shaking my head, usually when focussing on something like reading or listening to someone
- hand flapping too, but it's more like finger flapping, is that a thing?
- humming/making random noises
- not sure if a stim, but I like rubbing fabric/textiles (blankets, toys, clothes etc.) across my face, I often do that when trying to fall asleep.

I think there is more but I'm only slowly discovering all that ^^

 

[Cyanide Lollipop]

- not sure if a stim, but I like rubbing fabric/textiles (blankets, toys, clothes etc.) across my face, I often do that when trying to fall asleep.

I would think it is. It is calming you to be able to go to sleep.

My mother used to sit me on her lap when I was a young child, and she would rock me when I had difficulty falling asleep. Then she would put me to bed and I would sleep.

 

[orlampagal]

When I'm sitting I bounce my leg up and down, when standing I sway. I bought an "Irish worry stone" so I could do something less obvious. Still getting used to that.